Topic: UFC 231: Holloway vs Ortega Prediction and Info Thread - page 2. (Read 345 times)

@nydiacaskey01. I reckon Conor is not the money fight anymore, Khabib is the one.

Brian Ortega also mentioned in an interview that he wants to fight Khabib. That would be a great clash of styles. The wrestler who wants to takedown and fight on top versus a grappler who is good in fighting on the ground at the bottom.

I would love to see Holloway win this fight against Ortega and have a shot again with Conor McGregor. However, I don't know whats the status of Conor McGregor in UFC, the decision makers in the Singapore based One FC is considering taking on Conor McGregor as there are numerous old UFC fighters transfer to One FC.

I would have to put my bet on Brian Ortega I really think that he could do the job and be a champion even it would be a fight of a one-two combo or a submission I really think he can pull a counter when put to the ring with the champion Holloway, I guess there is some weird thing with Brian's Submission Moves that intrigues me, he might pull a submission to Holloway and could ruined Max one-two combo, I should say it is very mesmerizing to watch him fight.

**Jesse Ronson was pulled from the card due to him being deemed too heavy to fight @ lightweight as scheduled.

Don't really have notes worth reading for this card.

The main event isn't as clean as it may seem on the surface. Brian Ortega tested positive for steroids back in 2014 & trains out of blackhouse MMA, the same gym where Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva and Kevin Casey trained when they all tested positive for steroids. Max Holloway had unknown health issues which prevented him from stepping in and fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov. Some believe Max still doesn't look 100% healthy.

Other than those technicalities both Max Holloway and Brian Ortega have some of the most impressive winning streaks in all of mixed martial arts.

Should either of them be injured, Renato Moicano is the alternate who will step in & fight.

I don't have any good betting picks for this event. I suspect some of the underdogs could hit. Aside from that I might skip it from a betting perspective.

@cellard. Hehehe I reckon Max Holloway versus Brian Ortega is harder to predict than what you are seeing on paper. In the UFC the underdog has a bigger chance of winning, not like boxing or tennis or team sports.

Agreed on Valentina, however disagree on Joanna to retire if she loses this fight. Joanna is tougher in mind than Ronda Rousey.

Max Holloway should win against Ortega and end his undefeated record in my opinion, he is the overall better fighter. He got beaten up badly by McGregor but he wants to rise again and is motivated (just like McGregor is extra motivated now after losing twice)

Schevkenchko should win against Joanna, I think Joanna has lost it and is going the same route as Rousey, may retire after this if she losses.

Im not sure about the rest of the card.

Date: Saturday, December 8
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass): 22:59 BCT / 3pm PST / 6pm EST
Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1): 1:00 BCT / 5pm PST / 8pm EST
Main Card (PPV): 3:00 BCT / 7pm PST / 10pm EST
Live Streams: http://www.fìrstrow.eu/




Main Card (PPV)

Max Holloway (19-3) vs. Brian Ortega (14-0) (Featherweight Championship)
Valentina Shevchenko (15-3) vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (15-2) (Women's Flyweight Championship)
Alex Oliveira (19-5-1) vs. Gunnar Nelson (16-3-1) (Welterweight)
Hakeem Dawodu (8-1-1) vs. Kyle Bochniak (8-3) (Featherweight)
Jimi Manuwa (17-4) vs. Thiago Santos (19-6) (Light Heavyweight)

Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)

Claudia Gadelha (16-3) vs. Nina Ansaroff (9-5) (Women's Strawweight)
Katlyn Chookagian (11-1) vs. Jessica Eye (13-6) (Women's Flyweight)
Eryk Anders (11-2) vs. Elias Theodorou (15-2) (Middleweight)
Olivier Aubin-Mercier (11-3) vs. Gilbert Burns (13-3) (Lightweight)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

Devin Clark (9-2) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (10-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Brad Katona (7-0) vs. Matthew Lopez (10-3) (Bantamweight)
Chad Laprise (13-3) vs. Dhiego Lima (12-7) (Welterweight)
Carlos Diego Ferreira (13-2) vs. Jesse Ronson (20-8) (Lightweight)

Other

- Antonio Carlos Junior and The Ultimate Fighter: Nations middleweight winner Elias Theodorou was initially scheduled to take place at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Anders. However, Junior pulled out on August 28 due to injury. The pairing was then rescheduled for this event. In turn, on September 13, it was reported that Junior was forced to withdraw as a surgery is required to treat the injury that caused the first cancellation of this bout. On October 1, it was reported that Eryk Anders would replace him.

- A featherweight bout between Renato Moicano and Mirsad Bektic was expected to take place at the event. However, Bektic was forced out of the bout due to an undisclosed injury on November 15. In turn, Moicano is not expected to compete and instead will serve as a "replacement" option in the event that one of the headlining participants is unable to fight at the event.

- John Makdessi was expected to face Carlos Diego Ferreira at the event. However, Makdessi pulled out of the fight on November 28 and was replaced by returning veteran Jesse Ronson that same day.

Thanks to the Puertorican for letting me use this content.